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DAPHNE

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LornaFarrell

Well-Known Member
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Those who have done the DAPHNE course, what did it cover and how useful was it?

I’ve been offered a place on a course but it’s every Monday for about 7 weeks. I have two small children and no childcare or family nearby, if it was every day for a week I could maybe get my mum to come and stay but not every Monday. I can’t really expect my husband to use nearly half his annual leave unless it’s totally essential. I’ve done the online course (was it called Bertie?) so I’m not sure if I’d gain much?

My concern really is that I’ve heard attending the course is a prerequisite for other things (like a pump) so I wouldn’t want to miss out that way.
 
Hi @LornaFarrell It's a decision that only you can make, personally I found DAFNE (Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating) to be hugely beneficial, I too had doubts about attending as to whether or not I could afford the time off work (am self employed so no work, no pay) but it was very useful for many reasons such as coping with illness, keeping good health with t1, checking your insulin ratios and to see if your on the right basal insulin, meeting other type 1's as well as carb counting, diet and lots more, it was comprehensive and despite knowing alot of it already it was still a good way to reassure yourself and build self confidence in your management, it is a pre-requisite for gaining access to a pump and that was also the other reason I made sure I attended every session. You also get a follow up course and online access to DAFNE by attending.
 
I attended a DAFNE type course about 3 years ago.
It was the first diabetes course I had attended after diagnosis - 12 years earlier.
I was already carb counting but it made me look a little closer at what I was doing.
It also covered things like exercise and illness.
I have not done Bertie so cannot compare.

The two biggest things I got out of it was spending face time with other people with type 1 diabetes and a pump 2 months later (it is a prerequisite in my area but a pump takes effort and they wanted to know you were willing to put in that effort).

Like you, mine was spread over a number of weeks (I think it was 4 hours every Monday evening for 6 weeks).
I think this was better than a concentrated week because you get time to try what you learn, feedback your experience and tweak it. We always had some home work in between to encourage this but it was never too much - and was sometimes something good like go for a walk and see what impact it has or drink some alcohol and see the impact - you were excused from that if you were tea total.
 
Hi ask if they’re planning on doing a DAFNE course over one week in the future. You never know. My area normally do them spread out over a few weeks but I managed to get on one that was every day for one week. It was very informative for all the reasons stated above. Good luck.
 
I attended a week long DAFNE course about 12 years ago and despite the fact I'm an old hack at this type 1 malarkey I learnt so many new things and was reminded of some basics I had forgotten.
I would recommend it to anyone at any stage of type 1 life.

All the best

Tony
 
I did a variation of the DAFNE course for my area. It was 2 days and very helpful. I asked to be referred to Addenbrookes and was put on a pump. I did not have to attend DAFNE because they were happy I had a good understanding from my 2 day course.
 
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Just thinking about the issue with your husband having to take half his annual leave and wondering if it is worthwhile for him to ask.
I don't know the details but I know employers must give flexibility for child care to men and women. For some this means temporarily changing hours and for others in may mean unpaid leave.
 
The DAFNE course helped me greatly because before I was guessing what Novorapid to take with my meals, after I could carb count and my sugars have been better ever since.
 
I attended the Dafne course last month. I have been diabetic for 35 years since the age of 15. I found it hugely beneficial and learnt a lot. I had already started carb counting but my blood sugars were still not how I wanted them to be. They cover a lot and are not judgemental. They discuss how to manage blood sugars when drinking alcohol, when unwell, getting ratios of units to carbs right. Well worth attending if you have the chance.

I managed to get special disability leave to attend but was willing to take annual leave as my brother (who is also type 1) attended a few years ago and I saw the difference it made to him.
 
Thanks everyone, if it was just a case of me being off work I would do it without question. They currently only have the one course planned for next year, although there may be more later in the year at some point. If only my mum wasn’t 200 miles away!
 
I can only agree with the other comments on here. i did the equivalent course for our area which was 4 full days, monday to Thursday. Luckily i have an excellent boss who gave me the time off. I am also an old hack at this, diabetic since 1981, but did learn a lot.

This also helped me the Libre a month or so later I also have an appointment with pump clinic at end of month. Having done the course this has helped me get Libre, it is pretty much a pre requisite and the same for the pump

All in all it was time well spent
 
I attended DAFNE it was over mon-fri 9-4.30

I learned so much it was great benefit to me

Good luck
 
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